The son of a British army officer, Alan moved to Rhodesia with his parents shortly before his fourteenth birthday. As a child he performed in various school musical activities but harboured no pretensions of being anything more than ordinary. He learnt to play guitar at fifteen and, after completing his schooling trained and worked as a radiographer. As a hobby he sang in local pubs and hotels. It was during this period that Alan realized that he had a three-octave range in his voice. He Joined a band in Bulawayo (see TABBRON TRIO) and Geoff Tabbron penned their first seven single, a song called “Coloured Rain”. It scored an immediate success, this tune as it raced up the Rhodesian record charts, peaking at Number 2.
With gathering confidence in his musical prospects, Alan gave up his occupation as a radiographer and landed a job as the resident vocalist at the Swaziland Holiday Inn in 1972. The well-known Peter Lotis of Gallo records heard Alan perform at this venue and offered Alan a recording contract. At Peter’s suggestion Alan recorded “Put Your Hand In The Hand” and the song achieved instant success, quickly dominating the local charts. It also made Alan a household name. The song topped the Springbok Top 20 for four weeks and the Rhodesian charts for five. This run at No 1 started on 5 June 1971.
In 1971 he was presented the Springbok Award as South Africa’s ‘Most Promising Male Vocalist’. In September 1971, his first album predictably entitled “Put Your Hand in the Hand” was released.
His next chart success, “I Need Someone”, held the record for over ten years as the song with the longest chart run on Springbok Radio’s Top 20 hit parade. It spent 33 weeks on the charts between June 1972 and January 1973. This song – which peaked at No 2 on Springbok’s Top 20 – earned him two Gold Discs, as well as the 1972 SARI Award as ‘Best Song of the Year’. In 1973, he won that year’s award for ‘Best Album of the Year’, as well as the SARI Award for ‘Best Male Vocalist’.
“Home Isn’t Home Anymore” was Alan’s next chart entry, spending 16 weeks on Springbok’s Top 20, peaking at No 5 in 1973. In December 1973, he released his third album, “Goodbye Mama”, which peaked at No 15 in January 1974, spending 7 weeks on the Top 20. The single, “Give Me Back My Woman”, from this album reached No 9 in the Top 20 in April 1974, and was present on the charts for 10 weeks. In November 1974, he released the album “Words and Music” having composed all the songs and lyrics.
In 1975 he won his second SARI Award as ‘Best Male Vocalist’ and succeeded in getting yet another song onto the charts – “She’s My Woman”. This release reached No 15.
In 1976, Alan’s acting skills came to the fore when he took the lead role of Joseph in PACT’s ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”, performing alongside well known artists such as Richard Loring, Jody Wayne and Alvin Collison. This production toured extensively throughout South Africa and Rhodesia.
Hit singles continued to accumulate with “Santa Maria” reaching No 4 on the Springbok Top 20 in 1981, spending 11 weeks on the charts. Once again, in 1981, he garnered the SARI Awards for ‘Best Male Vocalist’, as well as ‘Best Top Twenty Artist’. In April, 1982, he entered the charts with “You Stood By Me” which reached No 18.

Alan’s music has been released in Holland, Germany, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.

His songs have been covered by artists such as Steve Hofmeyer, Patricia Lewis, Gerry Pretorius in South Africa and Mark Ronder in Holland to name but a few. He continues to be featured in compilation CD’s in South Africa year after year. The latest CD (My Wonderful Friends) has now been completed for Fantasia Music in South Africa and released and distributed through Universal Music.

Update:

Alan Has just completed another CD with Jurie Els in South Africa called ‘Beach House in the Blue Mountains’ due for release end of February 2014.

Alan is now completing a CD and will be introducing his daughter Eden, she will be featured on two tracks, one solo, and one as a duet with Alan.